


Ghosts

by AJMinyard



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-02-13 19:50:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12991269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AJMinyard/pseuds/AJMinyard
Summary: Someone from Neil's childhood makes an unexpected (and uninvited) return





	1. Chris

Neil was choking. Hard. The burn of the liquid down his throat was so painful for a moment that he would have sworn he saw stars or something equally absurd. People with his pain tolerance didn’t see stars or lose consciousness or whatever else his brain thought was happening, not this fast. He had been on the brink of death enough times to know that this is not what it felt like to be on the brink of death. Especially not when you were only choking on gatorade. Speaking of the damn drink, he was going to have to shower again before they could leave for Columbia, seeing as it was now all over him, seeping through his clothes. Kevin was going to be pissed if they missed the last call for drinks at Eden’s just because of Neil. Andrew would be pissed at listening to Kevin’s bitching, and suddenly Neil was getting slapped on the back hard enough to jog him out of wherever his head had gone. As unnecessary as the forcefulness was, Neil stopped choking and forced himself to focus on the woman in front of him. The reason for the hold up, Ava. 

She took in his choking state, and began to talk to him in French, an air of smugness around her at getting such a reaction out of him. 

“I see you haven’t changed as much as I thought. I really gave you too much credit, but you know what they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder or whatever. Are you done spilling your drink all over yourself? Yes or no?” 

Neil’s flabbergasted “Ava?” seemed to only escalate the situation, as his alarmed and panicked glances from Ava to Andrew and back, only made her smirk grow to a size where Neil knew to expect nothing but trouble. Judging by the tense set of his shoulders, Andrew noticed it too, but he visibly misinterpreted social anxiety for a threat, and began to move in front of Neil, acting as a human shield. This only agitated him more; he wasn’t in any danger, and he most certainly did not want Andrew’s already minimal patience to be tried by Ava, of all people. He tried to talk to her but all that would come out of his mouth was “Mais- Comment- Qu’est-ce que- ?” and whatever jumbled french his brain tried to come up with. Just as he was starting to lose the edges of his vision, as his body started to give in to the familiarity of panic; she laughed. A full, body shaking, boisterous laugh. He was stunned, and behind him, the entirety of his team fell quiet and began to pay attention to the scene unfolding before them. Andrew stopped glaring at her long enough to cut a glance at Neil, for once just as confused as the rest of the team, who had trailed out of the stadium into the parking lot behind them. 

Ava obviously didn’t give a damn, because she ignored Andrew’s glare and continued to taunt him in French. “Congratulations Sherlock, its me, Ava. Quit trying to speak for now, please. You look like a fish out of water. And you know, for someone who allegedly spent most of their life on the run, you really should not be so surprised by my presence. I’ve been living in Fox Tower for weeks now, and you’re supposed to be observant. Did you really not think I would speak to you?” 

Neil’s face paled at the word weeks, and to his chagrin, Kevin, of all people decided to take charge of the situation. He switched the conversation to English, much to Andrew’s relief, (though he would never thank him for it) and put on his best Kevin Day camera ready smile. “Excuse me, Ava was it? Hi I’m-

“You’re Kevin Day. He’s Andrew Minyard, and the rest of you are on the PSU Exy team. I know exactly who you are. I don’t care. I came to speak to the runner over here, so the rest of you can go. But thanks.” 

Ava was growing irritated with the interruptions. She came to get answers out of Chris- Abram- Neil, or whatever he was calling himself nowadays, and instead she was met with resistance from his inconsequential teammates. It was irritating, but not as much as Neil’s inability to speak for himself. Perhaps confronting him in front of his little blond guard dog, and his obsession and the rest of their team after a game had been a mistake. So she went with the route that had always been most efficient with him. At least, it had been efficient, when he was still Chris. He had obviously changed since then, but it was worth a try. With great effort, she wiped the smug look off her face, and looked at the ground. She made more than her voice as small as possible and said

“Look, I'm not here to steal you from your precious foxes. I just want to talk to you. So could you call off your guard dog please and take me to dinner? I hear the diner nearby serves breakfast all day and you know how much I love waff-“ 

Ava was cut off yet again, and now all of the rude American stereotypes were starting to make sense. This time it was by his cocaptain, Danielle. Ava was secretly a fan of hers, and if there was ever any hint that Dan swung her way, Ava would be the first to come knocking at her door. But right now, Danielle looked as vicious as she did on the court. Hostile, even, and she looked anything but interested as she eyed Ava up and down, and demanded to know who she was.  
“Listen, this team has learned the hard way that when people from Neil’s past come lurking around at night, asking questions in different languages, and leaving our resident smart mouth speechless; it means trouble. So no one will be going anywhere with anyone, until we know exactly who you are and why you’re here. If you can’t deal with that you can leave.” 

Ava was pissed, and maybe even slightly turned on. But she knew when and how to choose her battles, and she was clearly not getting any help from “Neil,” so she put on her biggest smile, dimples on display, and decided to hell with the plan. She’d been hyping herself up for this little meet and greet for at least two weeks now, and if she had to go through his goon squad first, so be it. 

“Hello Dan, I’m Ava and I know you don’t know me very well but I’d like to change that. I’m a freshman here at PSU and I’m on the cross country team. I came to speak to Neil because I’m fairly certain he’s the kid who went by Chris who I fell for in middle school only for him to supposedly die in a car accident. I’d like some answers about the guys I fought for him after the fact, even if he didn’t care enough to see if I was okay, or even tell me that he was in fact, not dead. I’m really tired of being interrupted, and I would like to speak to Neil alone, although judging by your faces that isn’t going to happen, so how about we all go out to eat? What do you say? breakfast for dinner on me.”

Neil looked around at his teammates and saw the blatant curiosity on their faces. Even if he'd wanted to keep Ava a secret from them for much longer, there was no way in hell his team was turning down free food. At his hesitation, the foxes had already begun heading to their respective cars, getting ready to drive to his favorite diner in town. So much for Eden’s.


	2. Neil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone makes it to the diner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummmmmm.....Hi? Hello? Anyone still here? Its me again. Out of my depression funk and ready to interact! 
> 
> Also, there's a bit of french in this one. Translation's at the end :)

By some miracle -or disaster, Neil had yet to decide- the entirety of the Foxes, some of the Vixens, and several others who were waiting for Ava in a car in the parking lot of the court, all made it to the local diner without incident. They ended up having to get the largest corner booth in the diner, with a table pulled up to the opening in the U in order to make more room. Matt, Dan and the upperclassmen to his left, Andrew, with Kevin and his family on Neil’s right. Ava and her friend sat across Neil at the small table they’d pulled over. Katelyn and two other girls, Vixens, Neil recognized, sat at the booth attached to the upperclassmen’s backside. Jack and Sheena sat on stools at the counter of the diner, glaring at everyone and giving off the impression that they would rather be anywhere else, despite the obvious fact that no one forced them to come. The rest of the freshmen and Ava’s entourage were scattered around the diner, but Neil didn’t have a chance to make a discernible pattern out of it before Ava demanded his attention. 

“There are only two exits. The front door which we entered, and the back door through the kitchen, which is only supposed to be accessed by the staff. Your whole team is here, and I’m still waiting for answers so quit stalling and give them to me.” 

“I know where the exits are. I come here every Sunday with Andrew. But you already knew that right?” 

Neil felt Andrew stiffen at that, and felt a pang of guilt over the fact that he’d withheld that information until now.

“So you did notice me. And yet, you seemed shocked to see me not even fifteen minutes ago.”

“I was shocked. I didn’t expect you to be at the stadium. But I- I didn’t think you’d want to see me. What would I even say anyways. Hey Ava I’m sorry I lied to you the entirety of the time we knew each other, but I’m not dead so-“

“Yes, you idiot! Thats exactly what you could’ve said! Do you have any idea how fucking scared I was when you died and then all of a sudden theres some bitch threatening me in my home and asking questions about a Wesninski heir who I’d never even heard of? I mean honestly, an introduction like that is the very least you could’ve done.” 

For the first time in a long time, Neil was just as shocked as the rest of his family. There was a two second pause before they all started throwing questions at Ava. Her friend, looked completely overwhelmed, but Ava just glared at them. There were plenty of valid questions and comments,

Dan’s distrustful “You don’t look cut up enough to have survived one of Wesninski’s people.” or

Matts “Its weird that you followed them around.” 

Some were less important:

Nicky’s “How did you figure out they come here? I’ve never even heard of this place!”

Some were more invasive, but Neil already knew he’d had enough. Coming here was a mistake. He’d built up a life here, with the Foxes. All this yelling, confusion, the tense set of Andrew’s shoulders, since Ava first showed up, Neil felt like he was becoming undone. He planned on going to Eden’s tonight, leaning against Andrew, annoying Kevin with critiques on how he played in their first game of the season. Coming here was not apart of the plan. 

Ava evidently had a lot to say to him, to Chris. But Neil Josten wasn’t sure he wanted to hear any of it. As far as the Foxes were concerned, his past was just that, and he intended to keep it behind him. Neil Josten did not owe anything to Ava, in this country or the next. 

“Look, I don’t know what you expected honestly. I don’t owe you anything. I hope you’re doing alright, but I’m not particularly interested in a walk down memory lane.” 

Ava’s friend was openly glaring at him, probably because of his hostile attitude; Neil didn’t have it in him to care. 

Ava opened her mouth to speak, but Neil didn’t give her a chance to change his mind. He started moving towards Matt, knowing Andrew probably didn’t want to be touched right now, and was definitely less than pleased with him at the moment. Ava seemed shocked that he was outright refusing to hear her out, which was for the best. A shocked Ava was a mute Ava. Neil pushed the foxes out of the booth, and having been in the center, was the last to escape. 

Ava reached out and snagged his sleeve. 

“Tu t’enfuis? Encore?”

Of course he couldn’t get away that easy.   
“Nous pouvons parler. Mais pas maintenant.”

“Franchement?”

“Oui. Je le promets.”

“Je m’en fiche. Ou? Quand? J’ai attendu trop-” 

“Ta chambre sur Lundi.” 

Ava seemed to not believe him, but she didn’t have much choice but to let him go. He had Andrew and Kevin at his back, and the rest of their group, including the ones that came with Ava, had already started putting on their jackets, if they hadn’t left with the Foxes already. So she took let go of him for the time being, and they left without incident. 

Andrew said nothing, but Neil could see how his hands were in fists in his jacket pocket, and the tension was basically rolling off of him. Once in the car, of course Aaron had to complain. 

“Of all of the exes that could come to stir up drama, it had to be Jostens. Even Seth never caused that kind of drama. And why do you even have an ex? I thought you didn’t swing?” Neil just ignored him. Andrew turned the radio up so loud that Aaron probably couldn’t even hear himself. It was probably better that way. 

Andrew drove them back to the tower. Kevin complained about them not going to Eden’s but it was already late on a Saturday night. Andrew’s motivation for going was sweeties, which would be closed by the time they got to Columbia, and they would only get a round or two in before the club stopped serving drinks. They were staying. 

Aaron seemed content enough to go off and follow Katelyn, Matt saw them once they got off the elevator and challenged Nicky to a Mario Kart tournament. Kevin took a look at Andrew and in seeing his expression immediately chose to follow Nicky and Matt into their room. Kevins treachery meant meant Neil now had to deal with a pissed off Andrew. What a night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Tu t’enfuis? Encore?” // You're running away? Again?
> 
> “Nous pouvons parler. Mais pas maintenant.” // We can talk. But not now. 
> 
> “Franchement?” // Seriously? (The tone here is more sarcastic than incredulous or disbelieving)
> 
> “Oui. Je le promets.” // Yeah. I promise.
> 
> “Je m’en fiche. Ou? Quand? J’ai attendu trop- ” // I don't give a damn. Where? When? I've waited too- 
> 
> “Ta chambre, sur Lundi.” // Your room, on Monday.
> 
>  
> 
> I know its been a while, but hopefully someones still interested in this. I've detoured a little from my original plan for the story, but let me know what you think

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, well thats the beginning. I have the next two chapters finished and chapter 4 I'm kind of undecided on how to finish, so if anyone wants to see something specific, or has any ideas please let me know and I'll try to make it work. 
> 
> This is also my first work for AFTG, even though I read the books a while back, I just never felt like posting any of the things I wrote so if anyone has any thoughts, criticisms, etc. It would be super appreciated! 
> 
> In the next chapter: Neil and Ava both come clean about a few things. To each other, and the Foxes.
> 
> ALSO you can find me at blueminyard.tumblr.com :)


End file.
